


Ill Reports

by idontevenknow (idontevenknowugh)



Series: Afflictionfell [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Disease, Gen, afflictionfell, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 03:53:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12740481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idontevenknowugh/pseuds/idontevenknow
Summary: “It is a hell hole. They’re mostly coming through to Waterfall. I’m being pulled in ten different directions it feels like. I’m halfway tempted to tell them they can’t come make demands without dueling me. That’d shut them up."





	Ill Reports

**Author's Note:**

> Check the end of the chapter for a link to Afflictionfell's blog. I'm going to be posting worldbuilding snippets, answering asks, and so forth there.

“New Home.” Undyne fixed the guard on her left with an even stare. It wasn’t his fault that the city was sinking into chaos, but she still had to gird herself for the reply.

“Nineteen confirmed deaths. Three house fires claimed twelve of those. Six rumored deaths. Twenty-two monsters turned in to the guard for quarantine. Ten of them had no visible symptoms.”

“Don’t those fuckers know that if they waste our resources on their witch hunts- Fuck, at least it’s down from last week. Hotland.” She moved her eye to the next guardsman in line.

“One family was found near one of the traps. By the time we found them there was no separating their dust, with the hot winds in that area. They were collected together.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes ma’am. So few species can stand Hotland for any length of time, and they seem to be getting better at traversing the trap fields.”

“It is a hell hole. They’re mostly coming through to Waterfall. I’m being pulled in ten different directions it feels like. I’m halfway tempted to tell them they can’t come make demands without dueling me. That’d shut them up. Thirty four deaths, mostly at the hands of their ‘sane’ neighbors. We managed to rescue twelve that hadn’t been burned or beaten to death. They just about starved before we got to them and moved them to quarantine, however.” She sighed and ran one hand through her long ponytail. There wouldn’t be any hair left soon.

“And somehow that damn camp still swells larger by the day. What are the emigration numbers from New Home?” She turned back to the first guard. He swallowed and began rifling through a packet of papers.

“Um, it’s- one second… Sixty seven monsters applied for passage out of the city, twenty four were granted that passage. All but two of them were headed for Waterfall.”

“Twenty four? That doesn’t add up. Monsters have to be sneaking out. Increase the patrols.” Undyne growled.

“Ma’am, not to be contrary, but we don’t have the bodies. We’re short handed as it is.”

“I know, I know. Increase recruitment. I’ll get the gold out of Asgore somehow.” Even as she said it, Undyne was dreading the conversation.

“Understood.” The guard made a note.

“The two that weren’t headed to Waterfall, where were they going?” Undyne was suddenly struck by the oddity of the statement. Anyone who could move to Hotland probably already had.

“Oh, um, Snowdin, ma’am.” The guard checked his paper.

“First newcomers you’ve had in a while, huh?” She asked, turning to the hulking figure of Snowdin’s representative. Greater Dog made a growling noise that probably perfectly captured his, and his unit’s, feelings on the matter. Snowdin was a very insular town, which Undyne could appreciate. They mostly handled themselves, instead of making work for her. “Any deaths this week?”

“No,” the dog barked. She nodded, willing to accept the response. If there had been he probably wouldn’t tell her, but even other sources tended to confirm that Snowdin was plague free. It was as inhospitable as Hotland for a lot of monsters, so it hadn’t seen the influx of refugees either. She would be glad if they could take some more out of Waterfall, but even suggesting such a thing would probably incite a revolt from the sleepy town.

“Anything else to report?” She asked the assembled unit leaders. Heads were shaking all around, with one notable exception.

“Then the rest of you are dismissed. Greater Dog?” she asked as the others fled the room. Nothing good ever came of Snowdin’s regular chaffing at the reigns. Her grip on them was tenuous, but she'd be damned before she let them slip free.

“They want to join the guard,” he rumbled, surprisingly calm. Undyne let the tension in her shoulders ease a bit.

“Who?” She asked.

“The sacks of bones, the newcomers.”

“Why?” She asked, mind jumping into action. Bones? Skeletons?

“Well,” he clarified, “the annoying one just wants a job. He won't leave me alone. The-” he struggled with the next word, “- loud annoying one wants to join the guard. He won't leave anyone alone.”

“I'm surprised they aren't dust,” she laughed, earning her a dark look from the dog, meaning he had tried. That was as interesting as all the rest.

Asgore would have a lot to say if he ever figured out she had hired them. It wasn't a sure thing they had anything to do with the late Royal Scientist, by any means. The King always got a little touchy about anything even hinting at Gaster, however.

“Bring them next week. I’ll talk to them,” she gave Greater Dog a wolffish smile. He cocked his head, but nodded. Even if they didn't know anything about the banned research, needling Asore would be worth it. Let him look in all the wrong directions. If by some chance they did, she would be one step closer to the truth.

Greater Dog finally left, his lumbering footsteps shaking the guard station. Undyne reached under her desk and fished out a bottle of spider cider. She pressed speed dial ‘six’ and held the phone to her ear as she opened it.

“Undyne?” The deep voice asked after only two rings.

“Your Majesty,” Undyne greeted Asgore before taking a swig.

“Your report?” he replied impatiently. Undyne rolled her eye.

“Not many changes to report. There seems to be some monsters sneaking their way out of the city. I would like to request additional funds for an increase to New Home’s guards-”

“Funds.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“The quarantine you insisted upon already costs me immensely. This is money that could be going to the labs. To a cure.” He sounded as tired as Undyne felt. She sighed and took another swig of the drink before replying.

“No one can deny that a cure is important, however, it won't be much good to us if we let the disease rage on unchecked. There will be no one left to use it,” she said bluntly. Asgore fell silent, as he often did these days.

“True, I suppose,” he grumbled at last. “Very well, you may hire the guards.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Undyne tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Based on the way the line went dead, she didn't think she'd succeeded. Tossing her own phone to the desk, she sighed.

Asgore had changed in recent years. She had considered him a mentor. He had been strong, but fair, and she had been ready to do anything for him.

Standing, Undyne went to look through the census records. They were dusty, and she had to stop and sneeze twice before she was able to leaf through them. Her eye watered.

Asgore had become more withdrawn since the dust up with the labs. He didn't confide in her anymore. They didn't have drinks anymore. It had been years since they trained together.

“Gaster… Gaster… There you are, you bastard.” She peered down at the page, grinning. Sure enough, two children! It was badly smudged, but Undyne greedily read over it, trying to decipher their names. Her grin faltered. Two children, the eldest deceased, and not even a name to go off of for the younger. The record had been damaged beyond recognition, the damage extending to the names closest to it… and none others.

Undyne sat back with a deep frown and took another pull of the cider. She knew that Gaster’s actions had wounded Asgore, but did he really destroy even this record of his existence?

The thing that worried her the most was that Asgore no longer seemed to care. He pushed the labs to find a cure and then retreated back to his home. He begrudged the sick the gold required to care for them. She shuddered at the thought, but it would be too easy for him to hide. Could he have caught it?

And what did she do now?

**Author's Note:**

> Check out [Afflictionfell](https://afflictionfell.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for more info on the world at large.


End file.
